Eating Disorders: Beyond the Screen

By Joy Ge

Eating disorders are tricky.

The media glorifies a slender ideal through unrealistically thin models, horrendously inaccurate movies, and “What I Eat in a Day!” vlogs that feature rabbit-sized portions. So it’s no wonder that eating disorders are often celebrated as “self-control” within society.

Through the screen, eating disorders aren’t portrayed as a mental illness but a lifestyle, and a desirable one at that. It’s always the idea that we can happily live on rice cakes, green tea, and shirataki noodles all while vigorously exercising everyday. Not to mention the mazes and minefields of pro-ana sites that tell you the thinner you are the better. You lost your period? Awesome! Your hair is falling out? You’ve made it! Look how good you are at eating disorders!

With each and every scroll drawing you closer to a false reality, it’s easy to fall victim to disordered thinking. So no, it’s not a stick-thin teen shyly declining food, or a model wiping vomit off their face. It’s exercising an obscene amount and dedicating your entire world to a distorted image of yourself. It’s the fetishization of mental illness that regards hitting rock bottom as the ultimate success. And most of all, it’s the ugly competition to be “sicker” than everyone else.

People with eating disorders (EDs) are oftentimes misrepresented. It could be hiding up in your bedroom doing cardio until 3AM while wearing layers and layers to desperately lose weight. Maybe it’s lying saying, “I’m really not hungry” or “I already ate.” Or it’s constantly grabbing at your body to frantically check if you’ve gained weight in the past five minutes. Perhaps it’s sobbing over a plate and hating yourself if you eat even anything substantial enough to keep you going. It could be the “fuzz” that begins to cover your body and the smell of your body consuming itself. But because these behaviors and symptoms aren’t exactly desirable, the media doesn’t seem to want to cover them.

Eating disorders are not a vain obsession. In reality, they begin when your world is too hard to handle. They develop as a coping mechanism when you cannot fix anything else, an outlet to regain a sense of control and for some, a feeling of validation. Unfortunately, they quickly spiral into so much more.

Like most mental illnesses, it’s hard to distinguish whilst under its influence. Suddenly, nothing matters more than being thin. After falling down this rabbit hole, it is no longer a mere choice.

At its core, disordered eating is the hatred and phobia of what keeps you breathing. It’s a refusal of a need for survival. An eating disorder is not a decision. There is nothing beautiful or strong about dying at your own hands.

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with a very real (and high) mortality rate. Additionally, they are nothing like the way the media represents them. Put simply, eating disorders are unique and complex, and so are those who fall victim to them. They don’t discriminate between gender, age, race and yes, weight. The only thing an eating disorder needs to thrive is a susceptible mind and a way to seep in. Not conforming to the thin image of eating disorders creates a precarious mindset - particularly, that I’m not sick enough to get help.

The ‘glamour’ of eating disorders needs to be withdrawn from the media. We need to see eating disorders represented as the spectrum that they are, including: binge eating, PICA, and EDNOS. Anyone who feels they are struggling with their eating habits should get help, regardless of appearance and weight. You do not need to look a certain way for your struggles to be validated. You deserve to live without fear of a source of life, and your weight is not a factor in this.

NATIONAL EATING DISORDER ASSOCIATION HOTLINE: (800) 931-2237

NATIONAL EATING DISORDER ASSOCIATION SCREENING: HTTPS://WWW.NATIONALEATINGDISORDERS.ORG/SCREENING-TOOL

Morris, A. (2003). The impact of the media on eating disorders in children and adolescents. US National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792687/

Harrison, K. (2000). Television Viewing, Fat Stereotyping, Body Shape Standards, and Eating Disorder Symptomatology in Grade School Children. SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/action/cookieAbsent